Tracy O'Neal Collection
Tracy O'Neal Photographic Collection, 1923-1975
Atlanta, Georgia Commercial Photographer
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The Tracy W. O'Neal Collection consists of about 31,500 4x5 inch acetate negatives which are housed in 10,814 envelopes. The collection spans the years 1923 to 1975 with the bulk of the negatives dating from 1950 to 1974. Some of the images are copy negatives of photographs which date as early as 1889. The envelopes are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically within each year.
The collection documents the history and social life of Atlanta, Georgia through images of organizations, events, facilities, and portraits. Notable are images of companies, the Atlanta labor community, local buildings, weddings, sports, and the Shriners Yaarab Temple.
The types of organizations represented include: charitable, commercial, educational, fraternal, labor unions, military, political, public affairs, public service, student, and youth. Significant organizations include: Adair Realty and Loan Company, Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, AFL-CIO, American Cancer Society, American Jewish Community, Bonds for Israel Government, Bureau of Jewish Education, Communications Workers of America, Elks Club, Emory University, First National Bank, Fromwalt Girls Home, Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills, General Motors Corporation, Georgia Power Company, Grady Hospital, Haverty's Furniture Company, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, International Printing Pressman and Assistants Union, Ivan Allen Company, Jewish Welfare Fund, Journal of Labor, Junior Achievement of Atlanta, K-Mart, King Hardware, Krystal Company, Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Proctor & Gamble, Schwinn Bicycle Company, Sheet Metal Workers Local #85, Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, The Varsity, and Yaarab Basharat Temple Shriners.
The type of events represented include: accidents, air shows, anniversaries, banquets, celebrations, contests, document signings, eating & drinking, entertaining (parties and receptions), exhibitions (animal shows, art exhibitions, fashion shows), fairs, festivals, homicides, holidays, meetings (judicial proceedings, political conventions, religious meetings), parades & processions, premieres, public speaking, rites & ceremonies (dedications, funerals, graduation ceremonies, inaugurations, oaths, religious services, weddings), sports, and strikes.
The types of facilities represented include: Buildings (historic buildings and office buildings), commercial facilities (business districts, eating & drinking facilities, financial facilities, mercantile facilities, service industry facilities), communication facilities, cultural facilities (auditoriums, libraries, and theaters), educational facilities (schools, universities & colleges), exhibition facilities (zoos), government facilities (capitol building, city halls, courthouses, fire stations, and post offices), health care facilities (hospitals), hydraulic facilities (dams and waterworks), industrial facilities (factories), military facilities, monuments & memorials, organizations' facilities (clubhouses, fraternal lodges), parks, public accommodation facilities (hotels and motels), religious facilities (monasteries, churches, synagogues, temples), residential facilities (dwellings, estates, neighborhoods), settlements (cities & towns), storage facilities (warehouses), transportation facilities (airports, automobile service stations, bridges, garages, parking lots, railroad facilities, roads, streets).
Notable facilities or places include: Atlanta City Hall, Atlanta Municipal Auditorium, Cyclorama, Darlington Apartments, Emory University, Five Points, Grady Hospital, Grant Park, Grant Park Zoo, Lenox Square, Peachtree Arcade Building, and The Varsity.
The collection also includes streets in the downtown business district. Notable streets include: Auburn Avenue, Luckie Street, Marietta Street, Northside Drive, Peachtree Road, Peachtree Street, Piedmont Avenue, Ponce de Leon Avenue, Pryor Street, Roswell Road, Spring Street, and Whitehall Street. Also included are street scenes in several Georgia cities including Dalton, Rome, Statesboro, Thomasville, Valdosta, and Waycross.
Portraits constitute the largest subject area of the collection. Commissioned primarily for passports, insurance claims, and company directories. Some prominent individuals depicted include Ellis Arnall, Bo Callaway, Jimmy Carter, and William B. Hartsfield. Also documented are candid shots, weddings, and sports teams and organizations.
About the Web Pages
The Web pages consist of the entire inventory of envelopes for the negatives and include over 1,033 selected scans of the negatives. Their organization follows the physical arrangement of the collection. There is one Web page for each of the 64 boxes of negative envelopes. The envelopes are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically within each year.
The scanned images are of the negatives which were determined to be of high archival value that were in the most immediate need of preservation (those negatives dating prior to 1964). These scans are reference copies of the negatives placed into cold storage. These negatives were selected according to guidelines established by an advisory committee. Some additional scans have been added to the inventory as a result of duplication requests from researchers.
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